Android Market's new movie rental service blocked from rooted devices

We can't make this up people. According to Google, who gets to make the rules since it's their service, rooted devices are not supported by the Android Markets new movie rental service "due to requirements related to copyright protection". You'll even see a specific error message when you attempt to try -- "Failed to fetch license for [movie title] (error 49)".

So now people who root their phones, whether to get rid of the crap "open" that's forced down their throats, or to have a current version of Android, are punished and lumped in with folks who steal movies. Nice move, Google. That makes me want to buy more of your products and use more of your services, so I can be treated like a criminal just because I'm smart enough to get rid of CityID, or want a safe version of Android on my phone. And of course, I'd much rather steal movies streamed with a poor bitrate at a low resolution to my phone than use Google to search out any of the thousands of places where I could steal them using my computer. Facepalm.

Of course, the Android community will find a way around this. I already have some ideas, and I'm sure others will, too. But we shouldn't have to. And once we do, I'll download one (and only one) movie from the Market for the satisfaction of defeating this stupid move by Google, then be sure to never use the service again. Redbox doesn't care if I want to run a custom ROM on my phone, so they'll get my $4.00.

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Android Market's new movie rental service blocked from rooted devices

It pisses me off because the only reason we root our phones is to get rid of all the bloatware and tbh TouchWiz which uses nearly 1/3rd of the operational memory. Grant it, it has not slowed my phone down but the software on our phones should be decided by the owner of that device. I didn't pay a large some of money for manufacturers and cell providers to choose what stupi bapp or commercial app that I have to have on my phone.

The part that pisses me off most is now I am treated like a criminal even though I've purchased several movies in which I'm blocked from watching. That's them stealing $60+ dollars from me.

Damn right that when there is a way around it I'm doing it. Its my right to view the movies I own.

Are you kidding me?
So many brainless morons out there. Rooted devices are customized by the users and are, therefore, NOT SUPPORTED. Do you think that Red Hat, Corel Linux, or Mandrake Linux are going to support every tweak of FREE SOURCED LINUX that's out there? You are warned against rooting devices or messing with system files prior to doing so. Yes, they gave bloatware- it's their choice and their OS that YOU bought and accepted terms on license agreements to. They have no responsibility to anything except their licenses and hardware/software. Wake up!

You are a moron. The bloat ware that most try to get rid of is not from Google. Most people keep the android apps that are related to Google. What people are talking about are the software and or unneeded crap ware from the manufactures. What gives them the right to give me unistalable apps I don't care to use? So again, what does Asus's bloat ware have to do with Google's stock android OS? Nothing. Try harder to make a point next time because you obviously have no clue. The Android OS is open source meaning free to use and free for you to make changes, yet manufactures slap restrictions in because that is all they know how to do. Shove worthless crap down the consumers throat. Get some information and be correct about it JFDroid.

Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.

Rooting your phone doesn't instantly permit you to pirate a stream of data that was not intended to be saved. Streaming video can only be pirated if you can figure out a way to save the stream locally. I don't know how large such a file would be, but I expect it would be bigger than the capacity of my SD card. Someone with better Droid Jedi sk1llz than I might be able to do this, but I don't have the kind of time to waste on such a project. It's far easier to just unroot your phone back to factory defaults, rent your movie from Google or Netflix, then re-root when you are finished playing around and ready to get back to real work.

I think that this is just a bad move from Google. They could have decided to do nothing about this and let the majority of rooted users rent movies as they always do, but now that they have barred all the rooted users it's like saying to them "if you want our stuff then you gotta get it illegitimately". I'm wondering just how many rooted users are going to be paying for the rentals with a simple hack? I bet you that it will be a lot....

Why would you even think that Google would have support for rooted devices? It even says "at this point" Obviously this movie deal is already for limited devices at this point and rooting it and flashing some custom version of software probably, my guess anyway, messes with what they DO support. So, they may not even be going out of their way to NOT support rooted devices. That's what I get from reading the support link anyway. Perhaps they are going after and specifically disabling it for non rooted devices but it doesn't sound that way to me.

How long do you think it would be until someone made an app to rip movies off the market for rooted phones? Google is just trying to be able to launch this service successfully and more power too 'em. Just grab the netflix app if you're so disgruntled

And how is this different from PCs? They didnt require locked down versions of PCs before we could run these types of services on the PC. The mindset needs to change that these are not just dumb-phones completely controlled by the provider\manufacturer, but several hundred dollar handheld-pcs. Nobody would accept being unable to control what apps are on your PC (imagine if you couldnt uninstall half the crap thats preinstalled on most PCs), or being unable to change the look and feel of their pc, and it should not be acceptable for portable computers (as android phones are) either.

Not to mention that these movies will be pirated and online from a PC the day of release anyways. They will likely also be converted into mobile formats immediately as well. So putting a restriction on a group of users, just because they *could* pirate your stuff, is idiotic, because those that want to pirate the media already have an incredibly easy way of doing so.

Personally people need to get over this plain and simple. Google is doing whatever needs to be done inorder to provide as much content as possible to all android users what's the problem with that???? If rules have to be followed inorder to do this....THEN SO BE IT.... Content is king and choice rules having the selections of Htc Watch, Netflix, Blockbuster, and now Google movies on my new EVO 3D makes me nothing MORE THAN HAPPY AS HELL....In my world HTC/GOOGLE/SPRINT.....RULE ANDROID WITHOUT ANY QUESTIONS EVO 3D ROCKS ALL ANDROID DEVICES

Umm the people over at google seem to pretty smart...so yeah stupid movie people we'll block access to rooted users....but umm...rooted users will just find there own way around our block themselves duhh!

Lots of folks making the assumption that this was driven by the movie studios, which seems reasonable EXCEPT for the fact that you can rent iTunes movies for your jailbroken (aka rooted) iOS device just fine. It's absolutely something Apple could restrict -- and frankly is much more Apple-like than Google-like -- but they don't.

If you believe it really is due to the studios/MPAA, is it just that Google has less influence with Hollywood Apple?

On one hand I want to slap someone at Google upside the head. On the other its OBVIOUS that this was force fed to them by the bastards at the MPAA or the various movie studios, so I can't get too annoyed at big G. I mean think about it. Do you really think a company would want to go out of their way to do a check to see if a system is rooted? IMHO all the **AA need to die a horribly, agonizing, and fiery death. They cause more headaches for honest computers users then anything else.

I'm fairly certain most everyone that comes here knows that this is coming straight from the MPAA. The point thats pissing most people off is the fact that they assume that because I've rooted my phones it makes me a pirate.
Yes those that root are in the minority in the Android owner family BUT they are also THE most passionate and loyal. Average Android owners will buy their phone and then get another when their contract is up in 2 years and then they might just flip and go with whatever is interesting at the time. "Rooters" buy new phones every 6 months it seems and its ALWAYS Android.
The funny thing is that rooting makes me a pirate so I can't rent a low resolution movie from Google but I can get on the Market and download 1 of 73 different torrenting apps and download a bluray rip of anything out there... And I don't even have to be rooted to do that.

Wow, this has to be the most irresponsible post that this site has published. I also sincerely hope that this does not represent the views of the site as whole. We have to realize that we need content to be available for the Android platform to grow. The movie industry will not allow content to be available for the Android platform if there are no safeguards to keep the (hopefully very few and not the majority of us) users from copyright/intellectual property violations.

We have to be pragmatic about this. It is very irresponsible for the author of this post to say that he is going to circumvent this. If the author is going to circumvent this, why bother to post a mad/irrational piece about it?

I sincerely hope that the Android Central staff takes a good look at what this piece is proposing. It is one thing to unlock and root for the purposes of adding functionality. However, to say that it will be done for the purposes of copyright volation/IP theft is an entirely different matter.

Guess what? This is a solution that Google had to put in place to apease the movie industry while allowing consumers to have a great official support for movie rentals.

I have been talking about the Android and it's strengths for a few years but one of the major complaints I got from people who were comparing Android to the Apple devices was the lack of an easy way to get content (music, movies). We are finally getting to the point where things are starting to be set in place and THIS is the reaction from the Android community? (I sincerely hope not)

Does Android Central staff want the Android platform to be marginalized and shrunk to just the people who are into rooting/modding?

If we don't get the big content companies onboard and the big names for applications, Android has no chance of thriving long term. Is that what we really want???

This piece that mentions circumventing Google's and the Movie industry's protection; if it ever makes it to content providers, and big name app developers; will probably make them think twice about catering to Android users. Sad and not the way to go. I'm disappointed in Android Central for allowing this content into the front page.

Your argument boils down to the ends justify the means. By that logic if I'm late for an appointment and my car broke down its OK for me to carjack someone. Because yah know I need to get to that appointment.

Duh....Google did this as part of a contract agreement with the MPAA. Doesn't make it right and frankly cracking that so we can use the service for legit purposes while still being able to use OUR hardware (Not Google's and sure has heck not the MPAA's.) is NOT irresponsible, its the normal reaction to an insane decision forced on Google. You may be willing to play the content cattle who will accept whatever is handed to you like a good consumer. But for the rest of us who do not appreciate being boxed in by the MPAA, RIAA, etc, etc we will protest in one of three ways. 1. Don't use the service and stick with a custom rom. 2. find a hack that gets around this. 3. Bittorrent the movie. 4. Use another service such as netflix.

Pick your poison. However there is one surefire method that will explain to the MPAA exactly why they need to knock this crap off and that is by not providing ANY money back to them.

Like it or not if it wasn't for bittorrent and people willing to tell the RIAA to stuff it. You wouldn't have DRM free Amamzon.com tracks right now. Protests DO work and nothing makes a business sit up and pay attention faster then when it hits their bottom line. Is it the right thing to do? *shrugs* That is debatable. Were violent protests during the Vietnam war the right thing for students to do either? Were violent protests during the civil rights movement the right thing to do? *shrugs* And yes I know those two examples are more important then movies or music. Then again art is something worth fighting for. But the point stands....this isn't about getting something for free. I think most people are willing to shell out cash for music and movies. This is about fair use. Period. End of story.

PS- As for thinking twice about serving Android. Yah right. They would cut off a sales stream like Android. Think again. Again bottom line means everything to these scumbags.

I agree the RIAA and MPAA are legal extortionists that should be hung up like a fake plant. High prices for movies are because of the actors unions, making sure big stars make millions hence the high prices we pay. Ya know, we have to pay for thier 5 million dollar homes and taxes that's bestowed upon it.

With that said,your argument goes nowhere. Google, manufacturers, and the carriers never promised that apps and services would work after rooting your device. Infact they said apps and services "MAY NOT WORK" after rooting. It's your call and your choice, not thiers. They didn't point a gun to your head saying root your damn device! You made the decision to root. So either root and not get the service or unroot and get it. That simple.

Rooting your device is NOT a right! It's a priviledge granted to you that is not covered under any warranty. Says so in the legal description your carrier made you sign when you joined or purchased your phone. So your fair use claim gets 20 to life because no one....repeat....NO ONE has told you in any fashion, way, shape or form, that you cannot download movies or music to your phone because you can...all day long. Just that UN-rooted devices get to use the google movie rental service. It's thier service, they own it, so therefore they can pretty much do whatever they want with it. Period. End of story.

This isn't surprising. since they have no control over rooted devices and the music and movie companies are the most paranoid entities to ever exist, google most likely had no choice in the matter. Either don't support rooted phones or no deal. What I want to know is how they can tell?!

I saw a comment elsewhere that said, "how do you think it detects that your rooted? The su or the superuser" Which is a ready good question.

And Which brings me to the question if google can detect this why can't our carriers detect that we are rooted to block tethering and void our warranties? Just curious.....

Also I think this is a horrible idea just for the record. I rooted just to be able to remove apps (bloatware) I could normally not remove..... All because my carrier thinks my phone needs them and wants to eat up space on my phone. Key being MY phone. So who am I harming or stealing from by being rooted and removing apps I will never use from MY phone? And how am I some movie thief who shouldn't be allowed to use this service for wanting to remove some apps from my phone? When rooting my phone had Nothing to even do with movies in the first place.
I guess I just fail to see how the 2 go together rooting and paying to watch a movie.......There had to be other ways of protecting the movie content......netflix doesn't do this and they seem to be doing just fine....

Jesus I hope the author of this article doesn't represent this blog and it's opinion because you sir are an immature bich who does not understand google is a COMPANY. They have to make sure content from other companies they deliver are secure. You are a stupid fck bich cck sucker this blog is no longer a SERIOUS blog to me like engadget, go DIE

This very immature of you and you need to grow up. How dare you insult Jerry he is one of the best writers for android and the person who gave you the android central wonder machine. I may not agree with him, but I at least respect him.

This isn't Google's fault or issue. Its a stipulation placed on Google by the movie industry. If Google did not block rooted phones, then Google would not have been able to provide any movies to any phone.

Considering there are many more non-rooted phones than rooted ones, it made sense to block rooted phones so that Google could release such a service.

Google knows the rooting community will find a way around the issue. At least this way, they can tell the movie industry "we tried"

So I have a question for all the people up in arms over this. What would you folks have Google do instead? The only alternative was likely NOT have a movie rental service at all and fall further behind Apple.

Google isn't telling you not to root your phone. You are free to do that still. They are just saying that this one service won't work on rooted phones. Hell it doesn't sound like that great a service anyhow. Come on, 4 dollars for a movie rental?!?!

All the people, including the writer of the above article, really need to take a step back and realize that the lot of you are sounding like entitled little children crying because you don't get everything you want handed to you on a silver platter. If this pisses you off so much then by all means go find a better alternative to Android.

Maybe the next iPhone will be up your alley. Maybe a Windows phone would be friendlier to the modding community. Something tells me that after you all have tired yourselves out bitching and screaming you won't be going anywhere. Keep on with all the bluster and hyperbole though if it makes you feel better.

Bottom line you people are bitching for the sake of bitching. Stop being so butt hurt over Google doing what is best for Google. If this service means so damn much to you then run stock. If not, then stay rooted, enjoy what being rooted has to offer and stop screaming like a spoiled child that was just told they couldn't have a candy before dinner.

+1 on that! Who the hell wants to pay $4 to RENT a movie anyways when I can pay $8 a month for Netflix and stream all sorts of movies. I can wait for a movie to hit Netflix but that's me. Also like stated Google no way made this choice they were probably forced to make this decision or they wouldn't have movies. Get over it and move on with life people.

+1 on that! Who the hell wants to pay $4 to RENT a movie anyways when I can pay $8 a month for Netflix and stream all sorts of movies. I can wait for a movie to hit Netflix but that's me. Also like stated Google no way made this choice they were probably forced to make this decision or they wouldn't have movies. Get over it and move on with life people.

I'm not bitching. I'm simply calling out that Google has utterly (and arguably, intentionally) misrepresented the goods that they sold Android customers. From "we developed Android to keep one man, one company, from controlling access to the internet," Andy Rubin has taken on exactly that job and is well on his way to making Google the everywhere- and always-present Portal to the Web. A damnable lie, that "one man, one company" shtick bashing Apple, either false in that Google bought Android long before they legally knew Apple was working on a smartphone, or obtained dishonestly.

Maybe they thought they had to do it. Maybe they were right. But it doesn't make it any less disreputable.

I have a pretty high standard of service that I have to give my customers. If I did half as bad as what I think Google has done, my firm could pay multi-million-dollar fines and I could be barred from working in this industry, for life. I've internalized a lot of those standards of integrity and don't like even being close to the sort of sleaze that Google's various spokespeople have shown.

I'm not surprised that people are feeling they've been screwed. Are you?

No disrespect intended but GROW UP already! It is NOT Google who is imposing these limitations. It is the owners of the copyrighted material. The owners have imposed limitations as far as who, what, when and where with their copyrighted intellectual property. Google complies in order to be able to carry their content. Yes this will prevent a small (but annoingly vocal) group from being able to access the Google Movie service but the vast majority of the rest will no doubt be OK. For Google's part the more people using their services the more ads in front of people which means more revenues. Google itself has NOTHING to gain from preventing rooted devices from getting at their movies EXCEPT the all important right to carry the movies which is a win/win for all.

Exactly. The pirates have an abundance of torrent sites that they can illegally download movies in very high quality from. Why they would pirate relatively low quality movie files meant to be viewed on a phone or tablet instead is beyond me.

So true. But there would be quite a few that would LOVE to have them stored (downloaded while at work or whatever) on thier phone to watch over at the GF's house that evening ya know? If it's easy...they will come...er, download...

I might have missed something; but how is this necessary Google's fault? Seems more like the RIAA are the ones calling people who Root criminals. Should Google not release an app because a minority of users can't use it? Doesn't quite seem fair to blame them.

Some people root for fun. Some people root to have something different. But....some people root to get around paying for apps -n- such. These are the ones that ruin it for all of us and it seems these are the only ones really complaining, including the author.

I rooted my Droid Incredible because as much as I love my phone I hate Sense and I wanted to run an AOSP ROM, I've never done anything illegal with my phone. I'm not complaining because I want to steal movies or do anything else illegal. I'm complaining because I don't like being treated like a criminal when I haven't actually done anything wrong. Still you do have a point, the people who root to get paid apps for free and the people who brick they're phone when trying to root and/or run a custom ROM then try to turn they're phone in as "defective" and get a new phone for free ruin a great thing for the rest of us.

It's not that they are trying to treat anyone like a criminal, it's that they probably had a choice to make and decided that the benefits of only making this service available to non-rooted phones outweighed the rooted phones. It's not like they are saying if your rooted, they are going to disable your phone till you comply. Just be glad that this isn't a crapple product cause SJ would have probably already sent out cease and desist letters....

Great idea, block users from paying for movies on devices that they fear will get around their DRM and instead push them to pirate. These content industries are completely clueless our want us to think they're clueless.

It's because of the DRM issue yes. BUT, it's because rooted phones (and the know how to do so) can circumvent the DRM process making it easy to pirate. And you know as well as I do, that if it can be had for free, why pay for it. That's why the RIAA has probably made them do this.

Love how the writer complains about being "lumped together with those who steal movies", yet the majority of the commenters who are in agreement with him state in their comments that they arent gonna pay for the movies in the first place.

I for one don't care. If this gets android closer to Netflix on my xoom and vudu and every other content provider than block rooted phones.
They are not saying you can't root they are saying that if you do you can't rent streaming movies. You have to decide what's motre important for you. I hate to say this but if someone found a way to make me work for free I would quit. Same for free tethering and so on.

What people don't realize is that google HAD to do this.
If people want to be angry at someone then they should be angry at the big movie industry for forcing this part of the contract on US. Goole has to play the game in order to offer some kind of movie service.
Stop crying.

I love how you people start complaining because your not getting something you want. I'm sure Google would hand you all the movies you wanted, free of charge, if they could. But I'm sure there is an explaination as to why this has happened to all the rooted phones in the wild.

Besides, you show me where in the legal documentation of owning an android powered phone that is rooted has the "right" to movies offered by Google (or any application for that matter) and I'll shut my pie hole.

Google has made android easy to root for all of us modders but has always said rooting can have consequences such as bricking your phone, undesired app behavior, functions of the phone not working...and of coarse, apps or services not working as intended due to the OS not being legit as it is unsigned.

I agree the RIAA and all involved are legal extortionists that should be put to rest but hey, if you don't like the pricing, don't buy it and surely don't steal it as it screws everyone else that "do" want to pay that steep price. Also, these companies have to make money to keep the services you do want running. Without capitol, they would have to shut thier doors.

Hold on everyone. I heard from a "pretty good" source (read: not good enough to officially quote for an article) that this is exactly as some have suggested, and that is it was done to make the rights holding corp happy, but Google knew that their request was absurd since every people they are trying to prevent DRM violations (people who have rooted their phone) are the very same people who will get around it. In other words, it's pointless unlike typical copyright protection techniques which are not designed to prevent EVERYONE (which everyon3 knows is a lost cause) but rather cause enough technical hoops to jump through to prevent the vast majority of non-technical users from pirating the goods.

Google knows rooters will get around this in moments. They're likely looking at the reps who are requesting this "protection" the same way the world leaders looked at Austin Powers when he unveiled his demands of one million dollars.

everyone who is complaining about this rule go get a freaking iphone and stop whinning like lil Bit*hes. majority of android phones sold doesnt get rooted anyway. that just for a few that act like rooting is like the best thing since slice bread.

So does an iPhone allow jailbroken phones to stream movies from Google? I don't get how an Iphone would fix people's gripes, I would think it'd make them worse. That's like saying "go get a Kia if you don't like how you can't modify your Porche to go faster"

This is the studios. To get a licence Google have to do it this way. The studios don't get that people will not be pirating with their phones and that those that are thinking of stealing their product will do so anyway. Treating consumers as criminals is a really stupid strategy that content creators continue to persist with.

Do you guys know nothing on how copyrights, the RIAA and the movie company works? They would not allow Google to offer rentable titles without this rule. I am sure Google is working on a compromise or an app that will be in accordance with the Media standards.

This only affects the few, like me who root, who are more likely to rip movies off their dvds or for some, to steal the movies.

Rather than blaming Google, blame those who run the Copyright/movie industry.

Thank you for those who understand how it works. AndroidJunkie, waynew73, blackonix and others who are not so quick to blame.

This is really about $ and we know why: Hollywood wants to stay rich. Why do actors and actresses have to be filthy rich when the rest of us work for a living? And not just actors, but so much of this industry is all about greed. Part of an open-model is that we all start to see more than we would have otherwise. And we ask questions like, why do I have to pay so much so actors can be so rich? The conclusion is either to pay, or pirate. Piracy is not legal, but if you interpret paying so high amounts a form of extortion, and you get millions of others to agree, then eventually the people will revolt. See 1917 Russia for an example. But it doesn't have to be a revolution of violence...but it takes companies like Google to stand up and say No. What if, over time, people stopped doing movies in the traditional Hollywood way? And, probably the movie studios will get revamped in the next 10 years, just as the realtor industry is having to change with the openness of the internet. (Another great example of legalized extortion...6%!)

Who cares about renting movies...F*ck hulu, netflix, and google..... we can watch everything for free online due to the fact that our phones process flash! Why pay for something that we can get for free anyway. Epic fail.

And what products of Googles have you bought recently..? this article has more whining than news. Google has requirements (just like Netflix) before being allowed to rent/stream movies. you know that. They aren't out to screw the 1% of android users that mod. they need to control the DRM services. and if the android community finds a way around this (doubtful), it'll just be fixed (server side).

A workaround has already been found. It's not a server side problem due to the fact that the code is run from the program....not the server its connected to. All you have to do is spoof your info. Been doing this for years with Windows os's to get free installs/updates. As to why you would want this sh*t service to start with.....thats beyond me.

Damn with HTC and Motorola on board to stop devs from hacking there phones is one thing now Google is getting in th mix. Unfortunately I hope this as far as Google is going I understand their eposition they are in they have to protect their partners. Google is business and we must not forget that.

Remember my friends, electronics have ALWAYS been locked down. This is what created the modding community in the first place. They make a supposedly unbeatable system.....we exploit it. It will never be fully closed because someone out there is just as smart (smarter usually) than the people who made it.

I don't get all this backlash against Google. If you research the MIAA rules and laws they are requiring that Google require that the phones and devices are "secure" before they allow them to download their materials. Why Redbox doesn't have to require it seems pretty simple...Redbox isn't the proprietor of the base Operating system...Google is. It'll all get worked out eventually, relax people.

I don't get all this backlash against Google. If you research the MIAA rules and laws they are requiring that Google require that the phones and devices are "secure" before they allow them to download their materials. Why Redbox doesn't have to require it seems pretty simple...Redbox isn't the proprietor of the base Operating system...Google is. It'll all get worked out eventually, relax people.

This is obviously not a Google thing. Even though Google was forced to do it, I think that this was forced on them by the same companies that are allowing them to stream and 'pin' movies. I don't blame them for this because I don't think its their fault.

you people are all ridiculous, you realize this probably isn't google's "fault" right? there was probably no way for them to get the licenses for all these movies from the studios without blocking rooted devices since the studios are probably afraid people with rooted phones could break the drm and steal the movie or whatever

I agree with this completely. Its probably not their fault, but it comes to question why would I steal a small movie file that would look like crap on anything more than a 10 inch screen. I don't believe in the movie rental system, I refuse to pay more than a dollar for a movie that I can never keep. If I pay 3.99 for a movie than I better have the ability to watch it whenever I want, I don't care if its connected to my account and only runs on my account for movies.

Don't really care, already have Netflix if I really want to stream video to my tiny little phone screen. Also, not really interested in paying $4/movie for for a one time view when Netflix is only $8/mo for unlimited. Maybe I'll care when I get through my 200+ item queue.

I find many members of this forum very short-sighted..I am not rooted my evo is stock. What many of the members of this forum who do root seem to overlook is the fact that in the realm of the android ecosystem they are in the minority. Only a small percentage of the android phones are rooted and modified the vast majority are stock. Google is not going to cater to a small percentage of their customers, they are going to make their products available to the masses.

I agree with this but I have to say that Google is working to make android open. This particular instance, I don't think Google is at fault, I think the 'people' to blame are the multi-billion dollar company stock owners. They don't want people to steal the content that they invested in.

They don't have to do anything to cater to root users. In fact, they went out of their way to block us. I bet about 80% of rooted users would pay to rent the movies even if there was a way of pirating them. Google is just ensuring that 0% of rooted users will be sending their money. Whatever, Google's loss.

Wow, sounds like the guy writing this article was crying at the same time lol ... get over it man. Chances are there's apps for rooted users to record rented movies - therefore stealing copy-protected content. Google is just covering it bases.

This is certainly a poor PR move with customers (well, at least the power user/enthusiast crowd that shows up at AC), but I imagine it not only was requested by the movie labels, I expect it's meant to send a message to the music studios about how much Google is trying to support copyright. I expect several public moves by Google in the coming weeks/months aimed at winning back the music labels.

Movie Companies, like music labels before them, have to realize that they won't make any money by imposing restrictions like this on their users. I started buying my music when it was available DRM free and usable on any of my devices. I will do the same when movies are, but not any time sooner. Sorry Google, but piracy is still a better deal than you.

Also, Google Movie rentals isn't available in Europe. Only horribly overpriced iTunes with DRM that doesn't work on any device. Guess I don't even have any alternatives to Piracy right now.

I agree in full with this statement: "I started buying my music when it was available DRM free and usable on any of my devices. I will do the same when movies are, but not any time sooner."

Now I regard the MPAA and its contents so worthless it doesn't even deserve jumping through all the hoops to remove DRM or to get a pirated copy. Until the MPAA gets with the times, I'm not buying movie tickets, not renting or buying movies on BluRay/DVD, not paying for them in Pay Per View or Video On Demand, and not paying for rentals/downloads and not bothering with getting pirate copies.

If we all regarded the MPAA industry as something as undesirable and unappealing as Windows Vista, they'd be forced to listen to us. But as long as they can get money from us using their draconian practices, they are not going to change anything.

Seriously, I know it's the principle but honestly, ask yourself if you're really going to use the service? I know I'm not. Im not interested in watching movies from my phone anyway. And if they want to play this game, we already know other methods of putting movies on our phones without restrictions! We've been doing this for years for these EXACT SAME REASONS from other providers. So what are we really bitching about?

It's ridiculous that Hollywood is still playing this cat and mouse games. Haven't they learned that making it hard for use to use their services, we still win at the end with numerous methods to see their movies on out phones?

and I say once more...we have to stop being such die-hard loyalists to brands or companies, that very rarely show loyalty or even appreciation to their customers...and this is not just directed AT Google. I fell in love with Android since I was first introduced to it with The Evo, and I am as guilty of this as anyone else, but that does not mean I won't spend my money elsewhere if this BS doesn't stop. This is all these companies understand...$$$...thats all we are to "THEM"...as I heard a very wise man once say, time we started voting with our wallets....major fail...oh wait, its because of "copyright" issues,,,I take it all back..c'mon Goog

Google doesn't cause any of the problems that you mentioned. Thats all the manufacturers or the carriers or the multi-billion dollar film industry, if you want a company that cares about your experience with android and loves to give you all the latest things possible. I suggest getting a Nexus S because that gives you everything you could wan't and more. I have an EVO and I run stock Sense, sometimes I wish I was running vanilla and rooted but I like the Sense experience and thats why I don't root, I buy into the system. If you don't want to buy into the carrier or manufacturer or DRM issue....get a Nexus S...problem solved.

Funny though. It's not even an option on the market for my Charge or TBolt, only my XOOM. Also, just a flash of common sense. Why not just unroot when you want to watch movies? Just saying, you rooted because you wanted something, your bloatware will still be gone. If watching movies from google is such a dealbreaker then unroot, watch, and then reroot. Simple really.

I wondered the same thing...maybe future root solutions will able to work around their detection methods, once they figure out how they are doing it. Can't imagine Google will work too hard trying to stop people, just enough to be able to say they are trying.

It seems incredibly infantile and naive to attempt and demonize Google over this. We all know how incredibly ridiculous the movie studios are. Just look at what hoops Netflix has to jump through to attempt and deliver streaming services. Obviously this was something they had to do to be able to even cut a deal with the movie studios and get this service out there. I'm sure the idealists out there would love for Google to stick it to the man, as I'm sure they want to; but realize that we live in the real world. If Google didn't make concessions to the industries we all hate, we wouldn't HAVE any content. All the people who cry about Google needing content distribution mechanisms are the first to cry whenever things don't go their way. Google has to compete to be viable in this market, that is the bottom line. It seems every step they make, some over dramatic pundit cries "ZOMG GOOGLE IS EVIL NOW". Put the pitchforks down and calm yourselves people.

I understand your point. But if thats the case, then Google should make sure manufacturers and carriers or whoever, keep our devices up to date, so we dont have to root. They cant have it both ways. As reported on this site alone, there are legitimate reasons to root, security issues, features you cant get on a device you purchased less than six months ago, and the list goes on. Why do we always have to be apologetic for, or to for that matter, these gigantic corporations, including the movie and recording industries, when we are the ones they should be trying to satisfy. Dont apologize for them anymore, they need to get it right, and stop withholding content from us. And I stress once more, when I say them, I do not just mean Google, but if companies like Google continue to bend over for the powers that be, then we, the consumers, will continuously get f@#%$ed!!!!

They made that declaration at I/O. Special treatment to those that are speedy with updates and don't bastardize Android... too much. Ohh, and people called foul on that too. Said it was making it locked down. Remember that they haven't released the source code for Honeycomb because they don't want twenty crappy versions floating around. They will do the same with ice cream sandwich too.

Google could solve this in one step by not allowing manufacturers to place un-uninstallable non system apps. Im fine if they want to put the apps on there, thats common with PCs too. But to not let us uninstall them is ridiculous, especially when many of them will autostart and cause battery drain.

And from there, the OS should be separate from all the apps\skins on top of it, and all should be completely removable by the user. OS updates should be pushed directly by google to recommended phones (and manual updates allowed to non-recommended).

The anti-root from the companies is bullshit from the beginning though. All PCs are, essentially, in this root state, where you can add\remove programs at will and run what you want. What would happen if the movie cos demanded that PCs be locked down by HP\Dell etc in order to play stuff on a PC? There'd be an uproar over it. There shouldnt be a difference here. These are $500 3-5" handheld computers, people should have the freedom to do what they wnat with that hardware.

And the funny part is, if the manufacturers did just this, the majority of the users who don't root would never remove a damned thing from their phones. Gramma ain't technically savvy enough to uninstall NASCAR, so all they're doing (The carriers) is promoting rooting.

I never would have learned to root if my Moment hadn't been such a phenomenal piece of shit.

and just to add,,,you dont change the system by going along with the system. At some point you have enough money to not always have to be all about money...that is not how change occurs my friend...I always thought of Google as a forward thinking company, that profited from being,well, forward thinking, but it seems the bigger they get the more willing they are to play ball...

The MPAA and RIAA have been suing people for over a decade over trivial BS. It will take a lot more than one company to make them change their archaic policies. What do you suggest Google does differently? By your standards, they should refuse to get on board with the copyright holders, waiting and fighting them for change. In the meanwhile, all of their competitors move into line, taking much needed market share. Google needs to take action to fill their gaps in the tablet market. In short, they need media, media that Apple already has access and delivery mechanisms for. Principles are important, but certain things need to be done in the name of market share. This isn't an ideal solution, but the service is new, and it will take a lot of steam to leverage against the "powers that be".

I admit, all valid points..but do you really think this has been held up all this time because of a million, or whatever the number, rooted devices. Btw, this does, in no way thwart those who this measure was intended to target..I assure you, the "piraters" are not sitting around with their rooted Android phones and tablets, just waiting for Google to get movie rentals or music streaming...

ZOMG! You are a genius! No one thought of that. Thank god we have such smart people like you to enlighten us.

Yes, we all know what forces are creating this scenario. That doesn't mean you ignore it and keep silent. Letting your opinion be known is important, especially when Google sells an easily rootable line of phones themselves.

Your glaring use of sarcasm aside, I don't think everyone actually does understand. My point is, people allow their idealism to get them into emotional states. People have the right to disagree with Google's actions. However, I see this same train of thought happen time and time again. Google needs media to stay competitive, would you rather they fail utterly to capture the tablet market, just to appease your principles? Welcome to the real world.

Ya grow up a bit... Especially since you admitted you wouldnt use it anyway. You may be smart enough to root a phone but that does not mean you are smart enough to understand the complicated legalese of licensing issues... especially with movies.

I don't see the issue with this. You decide to deviate from the manufacturer standard and there are consequences. Making yourselves out to be a victim is childish and irresponsible. Not to mention you admitted that you will find a way around this...so why complain? Its called product protection. Lets not be naive and act like this service wouldn't get abused by certain people. If you're sitting in a room with drug dealers obviously you're going to be looked at like one. Grow up seriously...

We decided to deviate from the manufactures default bloat ware. If you were even close to a mid level techy you would understand that a device you pay for regardless what " the manufactures " says is yours. You own it. So why should a customer have to use and or settle with crap that doesn't function as " I the consumer " would like? There are tons of apps on Google play that need root to work. We are victims here. Why offer gnu gpl software only to allow Mega corporations to control how your software is used? Rooting a device is not the easy way to pirate a dumb movie. Hell it's moves like this that indeed spark more pirated content. The more they try to control digital entertainment the more people grow tired of being the paying customer that gets screwed. IMO DRM and so many other retarded moves from the industry is going to kill itself. As for people taking advantage over this because of root is absurd. Hell i can live capture the movie while I watch it on my PC so technically it's not stopping anything. Lets make more excuses to protect the Mega corporations that rob us and the artist/actors daily. I don't understand how people have become so naive and gullible. As for the person I'm replying to you are an obvious tool following every command. Why don't you crawl back into your cubicle and wish you had some balls to stand up for your RIGHTS that are slowly being stripped from you over the years. At least I know most who have rooted devices still believe in freedom over things you own.

Ok, either they block rooted phones to get the licenses from the studios and a very small percentage of the Android user base doesn't get to rent movies, or they don't offer the service at all at which point NO ONE gets to use the service. Hmm... that sure is a tough one.

leaving out a minority of users who have root("millions", as u say) to cater to the majority who leave their phone stock(tens of millions, maybe even 100 million) is not evil, its not a slap in the face to rooted users, its BUSINESS. google is a business. Its goal is to make as much money as possible. Id rather leave some people out instead of everyone, cause if u leave everybody out then theres no way to make any money off this service.

Calm down. This is Google playing the game with the big entertainment industry that they are very serious about getting their business tied in with. Just hope that something good comes out of this. I'm sure that when they brokered the deal to rent/own movies that this was a stipulation of the agreement. Non rooted devices cannot transfer those files, plain and simple.

Well then me being "DARK BLU" makes me sound like one of the bad guys too, doesn't it? I wasn't "renting" movies from Blockbuster. I'm sure as hell not going to rent movies from Google. My device isn't rooted, but this is crap. Just because your device is rooted, doesn't mean you steal movies. Is someone from Apple running things over at Google now? I wouldn't use Google movie rental if it was free now. I'd give my money to Netflix just to spite Google.

Thanks to the DMCA, if you live in the US and find a way to rent Google movies on a rooted device, you literally are a criminal, as are the people who post instructions or tools to accomplish that. The DMCA doesn't criminalize the actual copying of data; it criminalizes merely gaining access to data, even if you have the right to that data.